Pushing Ahead
by Rromani85
Summary: Micheal Rivkin is dead, by Tony's own hand, Ziva and Tony must decide if they can still be partners. TIVA, This story jumps in right at the end of "Semper Fidelis"
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Obviously I do not own any of NCIS, otherwise Tony and Ziva would be together by now. But here's hoping.**

**A/N: This is my first fan fic ever so please review and let me know what you think. I've got the entire story written down and I'll post the rest in chapters if I get good reviews. Thanks  
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Chapter One

Ziva left the bullpen, her mind full with all that had happened that day. They had caught their man. That was all that mattered. Even as she thought it she knew it was a lie. Driving home she could not stop her mind from thinking about Rony. His reaction to Micheal had been one mixed with suspicion and jealousy. Jealousy bespoke of feelings stronger that friendship. Insardly Ziva was pleased. She had slept with Micheal yes, but it was just a distraction. Her feelings for Tony had begun to effect the way she acted around him. She needed to fix that. If Tony ever found out that Ziva loved him and she learned that he didn't love her, well, she couldn't take that. So when Micheal came over from Israel on vacation Ziva took him up on his lng standing offer. They had been partners back then. Back when her entire life was Mossad. They had made her into a killer and no one could doubt that she was good. But her life was more than that now. NCIS had given her a kind of surrogate family. She loved all of them, but her love for Tony was deeper, it touched her very soul. Having realized this on the drover to her apartment she prepared herself for what she knew was about to happen. Tony was right. Micheal needed to go hom, and stay there.

She got out of her car ready to end the tryst between her and Micheal when she looked up at her window and saw two figures fighting. Wuickly she ran up the stairs, drawing her SIG just before reaching her door. Her hand was mere inches from the door handle when shots rang out from her appartment. She rushed in, gun drawn and ready to be used if neccesarry. The scene she found shocked her and nearly brought her to her knees. There on the floor were two men she cared about. One, Anthony DiNozzo, gun drawn, his free hand clutching his side. The other, lying in a heap on the floor was micheal Rivkin, her one time partner. She could see the blood seeping from his body to pool on her floor. His eyes were staring at her, lifeless.

Tony looked up at her, his face pained, "Ziva..I..he... I had no choice." She looked at him, anger evident on her face. The face he had once stolen glimpses at. The knowlede that she may be lost to him now killed him. If he could not win her heart he might as well be as dead as the Mossad officer who lay no more than three feet from him. He started to get up. The full impact hit her then and she was on him in an instant. Her knife drawn and placed strategically at his throat. "You killed him." She looked at him, barely contained rage in her eyes. He stared up at her knowing full well that she had the ability to kill him in less time than it took him to blink. "Ziva..I'm sorry..." She interrupted him "You killed him!" the knife pressed a bit deeper now and Tony could feel the very tip of the blade pierce his skin. "Tell me why" she said, her eyes locked with his searching for some answer. He paused before speaking "I came her talk to you about the case, it seems our man accessed the internet from your account Ziva!" She was puzzled for a moment before anger took control again. "How do you know this?" She asked, "Abbey...she pulled up the last known access points from Tabble's hard drive." Ziva got of him then, her knife still drawn. She reached for her cell and dialed Gibbs number. Her knife was spinning in her hand with graceful skill as she listened to the ring. "Yeah, Gibbs" he answered. "Gibbs, Micheal Rivkin..." there was a pause. "Spit it out Ziva!" She cleared her throat "Gibbs, Micheal Rivkin is dead." She looked at Tony. How could this ever be fixed? He killed her old partner, he killed an Israeli. How could she ever look at him without this anger inside of her? She finished filling Gibbs in and was told to wait there with Tony until the team arrived. She hung up her cell and looked at Tony. "Zee.." he started but was cut off," NCIS is on the way, we are ordered to wait here" Tony looked at the floor, he had killed men before in the line of duty, but never like this. Why didn't Rivkin just go home? Gibbs told him to go home, Tony told him to go home. Damn it, why couldn't the man just listen!?!?

Ziva left her apartment , she walked just out of sight and then leaned back on the wall, feeling the cold brick though her shirt. Her knees finally gave and she slid to the floor. Her hands covered her face and she could feel the first tears on her palms. If she had only gotten her sooner. Just a few moments would have been enough. Micheal might still be alive and she wouldn't have this rage and this love warring inside her all directed at one Tony DiNozzo. It was there, on the floor outside her apartment that Ziva David cried for the first time in ten years.

To Be Continued....


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Just then she heard foot steps in the stair well, and saw Gibbs come up followed by McGee, Ducky, and Palmer. She quickly wiped her eyes. "Ziva..", Gibbs said seeing the remnants of tears on her face. "Gibbs.." she answered standing up to follow him back inside her apartment.

Gibbs stood there a minute taking in the scene before crossing to DiNozzo, "Dammit Toney... Gibbs said facing the wall of Ziva's apartment. Tony, facting towards Rivki tought for a momrnt. "Abbey found out that Tabble had accessed the internet here at Ziva's place. I came here to ask her about it." he paused going over his initial reaction at seeing Rivkin in Ziva's apartment. "Rivkin opened the door Boss. I...I told him he was under arrest... that's whenn he attacked me. I had no choice Boss.". Gibbs turned around, "Lets just do our jobs for now, I'll deal with the politics come Monday." He walked towards Zica and started to say something inseteat he just put his hand on her shoulder before moving on to McGee,"Bag and tag anything that's relevant here" "Ducky let's get the body back to NCIS"

After Ducky and Palmer left with the late Micheal Rivkin Givvs turned to his team, "McGee, you don't speak a word of this to anyone till I talk to Vance you got it?" McGee looked confused for a moment, then accepting it Gibbs got a yeah boss befroe watching McGee walk out.

Tony, Ziva and Gibbs stood there amongst the after effects of the attack. It was an awkward silence. There had been silences between Ziva and Tony before, but it has always been filled with sexual tension. Now though the atmosphere was filled with anger, confusion and regret. Ziva kept her eyes on the floor, sneaking looks at Tony every few minutes. She wanted to know why this had happened. Gibbs looked at Tony, and then at Ziva. "Tell her what happened DiNozzo." And so Tony recounted his story to Ziva and again to Gibbs. When he was finished he looked at Ziva to try to read her face. There was still the anger, the hurt, but there was also understanding. "You had no choice Tony, I understand that." Gibbs interrupted then, "Ziva pack up your staying at Tony's tonight." Ziva looked at him unable to grasp the order that she had just been given. How could Gibbs expect her to stay with Tony after what had just happened. She started to say something when Gibbs cut her off, "No Ziva, you and Tony are partners. Work it out before Monday." then his voice softer "Vance will most likely send us to Tel Aviv on Monday." Ziva looked up at him knowing what he meant. " We will have to explain this to the Director of Mossad...my father." she looked down for a moment "You ready for that?" asked Gibbs. He know she was hurting, but he also knew that the feelings that were between his two agents were strong. Rule 12 be damned. "I do not know Gibbs" she said answering his question. With that he nodded and took his leave.

After packing Ziva went down to find Tony standing by his car looking down at the pavement. He heard her coming and looked up. "Ziva..." "Just drive Tony" she got in as he went around and slid into the drivers seat. The car started easily and nothing could be heard except the hum of the engine the whole way to Tony's apartment.

Just like she knew he would Tony opened the door for her and as she walked into his apartment she was surprised. It was clean, well kept and very well decorated. Ziva quietly scolded herself for noticing anything about Tony's place when her old partner lay in a body bag back at NCIS. Int the background she heard Tony ask her if she wanted a beer. She did not answer at first, instead she crossed over to where Tony was standing and said, "Do you not have anything stronger?". Tony closed the fridge and walked over to where he kept is emergency stash, he hadn't opened that cabinet since L.A, but he figured that this warranted a visit. Knowing how much she liked tequila he pulled down his best bottle and two shot glasses. No sooner had he poured one then Ziva picked up the glass and downed it relishing the feeling of the liquer sliding down her throat. She slammed the glass back down on the counter, "Another!" she said, her voice low and demanding. Tony aquiessed to her request and poured her yet another, he watched her empty the glass once more.

Half an hour later Tony and Ziva found themselves on the floor of his kitchen with a very nearly empty bottle of tequila. Ziva looked at him, he was still the same Tony, her anger had not gone by any means. She was filled with it and could not shake it. Despite knowing that she would have done the same in his situation. How many Israelis had already died. Why did Tony have to join the ranks of their murderers? The logical side of her brain rationed that self defense wasn't murder, but she ignored it. Looking at Tony again she reminded herself of the past four years that she had worked with him. Yes, she was sure that she would have done the same thing in his situation. Hadn't she done it once already? She thought back briefly to Ari. She had killed him to protect Gibbs. She had killed an Israeli too.

Tony looked up at Ziva, his eyes taking in her form on his floor. She looked deep in thought. They hadn't really talked much since he poured that first glass. But now he wondered what thoughts occupied that sharp mind of hers. He leaned his head back against the cabinets, one knee drawn up the other leg stretched out. In his hand he held his shot glass and poured himself one more before offering the bottle to Ziva. She accepted and poured herself another too. Just as Tony raised the glass to his lips Ziva said, "Do you remember Ari?" She saw Tony's eyes go dark at the memory of his old partners murderer. "Yeah, I remember, Gibbs killed the bastard, what about it?" Ziva took a moment, not sure she wanted to reveal this to him but knowing that they would never be able to move on if she did not. "Ari was my half brother.....and Gibbs did not kill him...I did." A look of pure shock formed on Tony's face. "Ari was waiting for Gibbs in his basement, I had come in just before he was about to shoot Gibbs, and..I shot him." A thousand things flew through Tony's mind, but the only thing that he could focus on was that Ziva did not hate him. If she could open up to him this much then surely all was not lost.

He scooted closer to Ziva, "You did what you had to do Zee..". She looked at him, their eyes locking "So did you.." she said. With that she reached her hand to cup his face, and raised her lips to his in a tentative kiss. His lips caressed hers expertly for a moment before he pulled back, "Ziva are you sure this is what you want?" he asked pulling back far enough to look her in the eyes. She looked straight at him and replied,"This is exactly what I want." She shifted to straddle Tony on his kitchen floor. Her words were all it took for his resolve to crack and then snap completely when she took his mouth once more. 


	3. Chapter 3

Disclamer: I do not own any of NCIS

A/N - Ok, I wrote this on the fly as I couldn't find my notebook. I hope that you like it. Any reviews are more than welcome. I really want to know what you think, constructive criticism please :).

Tony could have sworn that he had died and gone to heaven the moment Ziva's lips touched his own. Her long brown hair cascading down around him, the scent of her filling his lungs. His hands instinctively went to her hips, grabbing them to pull her closer to his need. Suddenly Ziva stood up in one fluid motion. Tony lay there in shock at the abrupt ending of their kiss, until he saw the wicked gleam in her eyes and the beckoning motion she was making at him as she walked to his bedroom. He stood up, his own fingers going to unbutton his dress shirt. All he could think of was having his lips on her, having her in his arms again...in his bed.

She watched him move, he had a certain feral grace about him. No one could doubt that he was built well and the moment he removed his shirt she could not doubt it either. His tan skin pulled over ripped muscle stretched over a long lean frame made for an enticing picture. And she had him here, all to herself. Her fingers itched to touch him and she did, running her hands over his chest as he took her mouth again.

Damn it, here he was half naked and she had every stitch of her clothes on, Tony thought. She was driving him crazy that he was sure of. His hands went to the hem of her shirt, working it up. God she was a sweet one! Her skin was like silk to his hands.

They stepped back from one another, their gazes meeting. Both of them hungry and wanting. Ziva raised her arms as Tony pulled her shirt up and tossed it out of his way. The sight that presented itself was nothing less than perfection. Her breasts half covered in a smoky gray satin bra with just the slightest hint of lace. He trailed kisses down her neck, her collerbone, and finally down between the two glorious mounds, his hands caressing and his mouth greedy.

Every where his mouth touched her skin burned, trails of white hot heat, the flames growing hot deep inside her. He gently shoved her down on his bed while he began to undo the button on her pants. After teasing her for a while he stood to remove her shoes and pants before removing his own. Ziva sucked in a quick breath when she saw the extent of his desire. No wonder he had so many dates she thought, before he descended on her again and she couldn't think of anything besides what his hands and mouth were doing to her. Finally Tony thought, after four years he finally had her this close to what they both wanted.

Ziva flipped them over so that she was on top, a wild look in her eyes. Tony simply went with it, his hands gently caressing her arms before going to her breasts and making their way down to her core. He rubbed softly at her bud and watched her tilt her head back and moan in appreciation. Amidst the moans Tony heard his name escape her lips and at that moment he lifted her up and plunged into her hot core. They both stayed there a moment before becoming a mass of tangled limbs.

His large hands felt so good on her. Rough and manly they caressed and kneaded her flesh each causing a different reaction. She let out a moan, surprised that Tony had brought out so much from her.

He kissed her quickly before driving into her again. He could feel her each time, each thrust coming up to meet him. He had known she would be like this, somewhere deep inside he had known that she would give as good as she got.

He quickened his pace, marveling at the feel of her. With one powerful thrust it was over for both of them. Tony fell half beside her half on top of her, a fine sheen of sweat covered both of their bodies. He watched her then, her eyes closed, her breathing quickened by their lovemaking.

Both of them lay there waiting for thier hearts to quit pounding. Niether of them spoke for a few moments, each trying to take in what had just happened.

Ziva turned her head to look at Tony, " Tony..." she said, unsure about what Americans usually say at that particular moment and not wanting to get it wrong. "That was a good nail.." she said, inwardly hoping that she had gotten that right. Tony looked at her and let out a small chuckle, "Screw Ziva, screw..." he said before leaning up to position himself over her to place a kiss on her lips. He felt her tremble when his lips touched hers and Tony found himself already wanting her again. Slow down Tony thought, he wanted to savor her this time.

Their kiss was slow and sensual, Ziva felt herself almost melt when he slid his tongue to taste her lower lip. She reached her arm up around his neck and toyed with the hair at his nape.

Their lovemaking was slow and smooth, each of them taking their time, tasting, touching, making every moment count. Monday they would have to deal with Rivkin, but tonight, well tonight there was only Tony and Ziva. 


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own any of NCIS

A/N - Ok just so everyone knows, they way they ended Season six kinda sucked, though this does leave opportunity for Ziva to get into alot of trouble later and for Tony and Gibbs to come save her. Because clearly her father is an ass. Anywho...hope you like this chapter.

Ziva stood there in the doorway of Tony's bedroom, going over the events of the previous night. She had gotten up extremely early, not wanting to be there when Tony woke up. It would just be awkward she thought. With one last look she left his apartment and made her way to NCIS.

Tony was working his way out of his sex induced coma, he rolled over reaching for Ziva but his arms found only empty space. Dissappointment and anger rolled through him in equal measure. Did she think that last night meant nothing to him? Or was it that it had meant nothing to her? The fact that it bothered him, bothered him even more. He was Anthony DiNozzo for crying out loud! That did nothing to ease his temper. Determined to resolve this thing that had happened between Ziva and himself, he got up and got ready for work.

NCIS was buzzing when he got there, he knew that he would have to deal with the consequences of what he had done. He went to his desk and started to boot up his computer. He had just looked up at Ziva when Gibbs walked by,"Vance wants us.". Tony got up and followed him around his desk and up the stairs into Director Vance's office.

"You killed a Mossad Operative, and now I have to find a way to explain that to Eli David." Vance said, his face steady and unreadable. Tony never could get a good feel for the guy but he didn't trust him. "Your gonna have to have some pretty concrete answers, do you understand that Agent DiNozzo?" Tony looked at him steel in his eyes, knowing that Vance was prepared to hand him over all trussed up. After a quick glance at Gibbs he nodded his understanding and left the room.

After Tony had shut the door Gibbs turned to look at Vance. His face filled with concern and suspicion, though these days Gibbs wasn't sure who he should be more suspicious of Ziva and Mossad, or Leon Vance. He would get to the truth in due time. He eyed Vance once more. "He's a good agent Leon." he said, hoping that his team would make it through this. "That's why I'm hoping he can handle what comes next Gibbs, Director of Mossad wants us on the next flight to Tel Aviv." Gibbs started to walk out, wondering if Vance was as concerned about his team as he was about diplomacy.

The flight to Israel was long and uneventful. Glares and glances between Tony and Ziva were unavoidable given their close proximity and the events leading up to this flight. Ziva knew in her heart that Tony wouldn't kill a man for any other reason than survival. Still...she had known Micheal a very long time,served with him in the Mossad on several operations. They were close even before the romantic connection. And being Israeli to the core it rubbed Ziva the wrong way that Micheal was killed like this.

The plane landed on a long air strip outside of Tel Aviv. There a few cars were waiting and a military hurse to transport Rivkins body. The flag was ceremoniously placed over his coffin and they proceeded to put him in the back of the hurse. Ziva watched as they drove him towards Tel Aviv. Her heart ached as she watched him go, as she watched the Mossad take away yet another of her loved ones. The list had gotten so long over the years.

Ziva looked over at the group of men who stood behind where the hurse had just pulled away from. There she saw Hadar. He had been Mossad since she was a child, and had always been close to her father. Personally she did not like the man, but she could not doubt that he did his job and he did it well. What bothered her about all of this was that her father had always listened to him over her, his own daughter.

Hadar walked over to where Ziva and the Americans were standing. She looked the same as ever, if a bit broken from the recent events. Introductions were made. He looked at Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo for a moment. He seemed arrogant, cocky. Hadar decided then that he didn't much care for the man, but offered to drive him to see the Director. He preffered to keep his friends close and his enemies closer.

Tony shot Gibbs a questioning look before going with Hadar. The man did not seem pleased to 'get to know him'. Tony knew that he couldn't really blame him for his suspicion.

"I am going to see him again, right Leon?" Gibbs asked eyeing the Mossad agent who was leading his own to a car nearby. "Hadar will not harm Tony, only two people have the authority to do that." Ziva said. "Your father is one of them, who's the second?" asked Vance. Ziva paused for a moment looking at Gibbs and the Director "Me." she answered before kicking the driver out and taking his place.

The drive to Mossad Headquarters was a quick one, as Ziva was driving. She saw Hadar take Tony into an assembly room and another agent led Gibbs and Vance in another direction. Ziva had only one destination in mind at that moment.

The door to Eli David's office opened softly and closed in the same manner. Eli muttered something in hebrew before looking up and seeing his only daugter.

"Shalom Papa..."

To Be Continued...

A/N - Ok, try as I might I have not been able to find an english to phonetic hebrew translator on the internet!! I had planned on having a few hebrew phrases here and there from the Mossad agents and Ziva and her father. If any of you know of a website where I can type in an english phrase and get a PHONETIC hebrew translation please please pass it on. Thanks soo much. I'll try to keep this updated, let me know what you think!!! :) 


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